Bring umbrellas, raincoats; the rainy season is here: BMG
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said on Monday that the city was in a transitional period from the dry season to the rainy season, reminding residents to carry umbrellas and raincoats.
"Sporadic rain accompanied by strong winds, thunder and lightning in the city are indicators that we are in the transitional period from the dry season to the wet season," BMG senior official Achmad Zakir told The Jakarta Post.
Short periods of heavy rain on Sunday and Monday in several areas across the capital did not flood city streets but caused chronic traffic jams at some locations.
Motorcyclists congregated under overpasses, bridges and bus stops, taking up much of the road as they waited for the rain to ease.
Bumper-to-bumper congestion was also seen at the Karet and Landmark underpasses, both in Central Jakarta.
"I think it's time for residents to take umbrellas and raincoats with them when they go out," Zakir said.
He said it would rain mostly in the morning and afternoon, with the wet season peaking in early October in the southern part of the city and in November in the northern part.
"We advise the public to unplug electronic appliances during thunderous weather to prevent damage if electricity networks are struck by lightning," he added.
Urban planning experts have also warned that trees planted in the capital as part of an aggressive regreening policy since the 1980s are not fit for urban areas as many of them are not strong enough to withstand violent storms during the rainy season.
Last year, storm Linda flooded streets and uprooted hundreds of trees -- about 300 in South Jakarta alone -- causing massive traffic jams throughout the city and disrupting the rail service until late in the night.
The City Parks Agency earlier said that in South Jakarta about 5,000 trees, which were prone to falling in storms, were growing along main thoroughfares. Among them are canary trees, banyan, palms, khaya and poinciana trees.
The Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) said in 1997 that acacia, poinciana and angsana trees were not recommended for the regreening campaign. Instead, the board suggested the city administration plant mahogany, tanjung and timber trees.
Unfortunately, Governor Sutiyoso's administration, which launched the Jakarta Ijo Royo-royo (Green Jakarta) program -- under which the City Park Agency will plant a total of 10 million trees by 2010 -- failed to go with the board's suggestion.
The BMG previously said the dry season in Jakarta would start in April and end in November.